Jesper Fast Announces Retirement After Injury
Carolina Hurricanes forward Jesper Fast has decided to retire from professional hockey. The decision comes after missing the entire season due to a neck injury sustained in the last game of the 2023-24 regular season. Fast, 33 years old, made the announcement on Monday.“I never took for granted the privilege of playing in the best league in the world,” Fast said in a statement released by the team.
Jesper Fast
Fast expressed his gratitude towards his teammates, coaches, staff, and Rangers and Hurricanes fans, as well as his family, for the support received throughout his career. He also thanked the Nassjo HC and HV71 organizations for their role in his development as an NHL player.
Fast’s injury occurred in April 2024, when Blue Jackets defenseman Erik Gudbranson hit him from behind into the boards. At the time, Carolina was preparing for the playoffs and was resting several players in a game that did not affect the standings.
Fast spoke to reporters wearing a neck brace during the end-of-year interviews, approximately one month after the incident.“That’s the part that sickens you, to be honest with you,” coach Rod Brind’Amour said that night. “You’re just trying to get through the game without that happening. I’m not sure where that’s going to go.”
Rod Brind’Amour
“It’s definitely one of the toughest periods of my career,” Fast said after the Hurricanes fell to the Rangers in the second round of the playoffs.
Jesper Fast
In August, the team announced that Fast had undergone neck surgery and would miss the 2024-25 season.
Fast first signed with Carolina in October 2020 and then renewed his contract for two years and $4.8 million in July 2023. During Carolina’s run to the 2023 Eastern Conference Final, Fast scored six postseason goals, including an overtime game-winner in Game 2 of the first-round series against the New York Islanders and the series-clinching goal against the New Jersey Devils in a five-game second-round series.Throughout his NHL career, Fast played 703 regular season games with the Rangers and Hurricanes over 11 seasons, accumulating 91 goals and 157 assists. He was selected in the sixth round of the draft by the Rangers in 2010.
